ROCKING & ROLLING is observing nearby. She notices that they are each holding a car, mouthing it, and occasionally rolling it on the floor.
Reggie scoots closer to Ja’ Von and pulls his car away; Reggie is now holding both cars. Ja’ Von looks toward Reggie, then begins to mouth his fingers. After a while, he starts to scoot toward another car.
Adults’ Use of Power in Early Childhood Education
Even very young children seek, need, and deserve a sense of agency over their world. Consider the following types of power( Curtis et al. 2013), and reflect on the ones you use.
Michelle decides to narrate what she is observing:“ I see Reggie pulled the car out of your hand. Now he’ s holding it. It looks like you are finding another car.” Ja’ Von grabs a car and scoots back to Reggie. They continue to play.
Some early childhood educators’ first impulse might be to tell Reggie,“ We have to share,” and then give the car back to Ja’ Von. Yet pausing before reacting is critical: Michelle sees that Ja’ Von is not distressed. She shares the power in this situation by honoring the growing relationship between these infants and recognizing that even very young children can resolve some peer differences on their own.
When children are given the opportunity to act intentionally on their environments, their learning deepens, and their confidence grows. Educators play an important role in this process by thinking through how and why they are sharing power with children( see“ Adults’ Use of Power in Early Childhood Education” on this page). When adults are intentional about providing children with meaningful agency over their world, they help children build an early understanding of themselves as capable and contributing members of their learning communities. This is a powerful foundation that children take with them on their journey to“ formal” schooling( Jones et al. 2023).
› Power on: Using adult authority to make a child comply with adult wants and demands.(“ I can’ t help you open your fruit cup until you sit down.”)
› Power for: Using adult authority to support a child’ s learning and growth.(“ I see you three are very interested in making rivers in the sandbox. What can I do to help? Would you like me to bring the hose over or get another shovel? What tools would you like to try?”)
› Power with: The adult recognizes a child’ s personhood and autonomy. They use their authority to collaborate and to share power and decision making. For example, as a group of toddlers plants grass seeds, one child walks over to a cup of dried pumpkin seeds left over from a fall science activity. She takes out several.“ Haven,” her teacher says,“ are you wondering if the sunflower seeds will grow just like our grass seeds here? Let’ s find out together! Go ahead and plant some in this cup, and we’ ll make a label for your experiment.”
100 Young Children
Fall 2026